LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Once again, Fox dominated the TV universe as the John Lennon/Paul McCartney-themed editions of “American Idol” netted another decisive weekly win for the network.
The performance and results “Idol” shows, respectively, averaged 29.9 million viewers and an 11 rating/28 share among adults 18-49 and 27.1 million, 10.3/26, topping the weekly program charts by a wide margin.
Additionally, Fox’s provocative new reality show “The Moment of Truth” (10.6 million, 4.2/12) underwent a successful transplant to its new 8 p.m. Wednesday slot leading in to “Idol.”
But it wasn’t all good news for Fox. The legal drama “Canterbury’s Law” stumbled in its premiere Monday night, the first weeknight of daylight savings time, which wreaked havoc on early-evening viewership.
“Law” (7.7 million, 1.7/5) was Fox’s lowest-rated premiere on record in the 8 p.m. Monday time period. The time change may have been a factor in the small viewer turnout for the show, but “Law” fared worse than its competition in the hour, finishing fourth among the major broadcast networks.
At 9 p.m., Fox’s time-period premiere of “New Amsterdam” (8.8 million, 2.5/6) fared slightly better but was down 22 percent from the most recent four-week average rating of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” in the time period.
The CW network’s reality series “Beauty and the Geek” also had a rocky start in the 8 p.m. hour Tuesday. Airing against “Idol” on Tuesday, “Geek” (1.9 million viewers, 0.9/2) was down 47 percent from its season debut in the fall and down 59 percent from its January debut in 2007.
The drop-off was similar among the CW’s key adults 18-34 demographic. “Geek” led into an episode of “One Tree Hill” (2.5 million, 1.1/3) that was down 21 percent from the previous week.
ABC’s “Lost” (12.1 million, 4.9/13) continued its episode-by-episode ratings erosion. The drama, whose current season is getting strong reviews, hit a series low, down 11 percent from last week, though it still won its 9 p.m. Thursday time period, for the seventh consecutive week.
For the week ending Sunday, Fox averaged 11.3 million viewers and a 4.1/12 among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research. NBC (7.5 million, 2.2/6), CBS (7.6 million, 2.1/6) and ABC (6.1 million, 2.1/6) were virtually tied for second place.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter